Chemical Engineering with Biotechnology?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
1

Hi,
if anyone has done chemical engineering at GAtech, could you tell me what the benefit of the biotechnology option is? I’m kind of new to this

2

@blingbilngshing I do not attend GaTech, and I majored in a related major, Materials Science, which is more focused on studying solid materials like metals, ceramics, and plastics, but i am familiar with chemical engineers
and the type of work they do.

Chemical engineers can work in a wide variety of fields, including semiconductor manufacturing, oil and gas drilling companies, the plastics industry and in biotech, so that would be pharmaceutical development or manufacturing, or drug delivery related work. The biotech option would prepare you better for working in biotechnology related fields. That also might be genetics related, or but most likely drug related. Drugs are really complicated today, see the immunotherapies that are being developed to combat malignant melanoma. Jimmy Carter
took such a drug and beat back his cancer. They work in about 50% of patients and no one really knows why they don’t work better, but its being worked on by MDs and engineers, with biotech knowledge, as well as biochemists.

Often but not always biotechnology research requires a PhD degree. Look online for chemical engineering positions, in Indeed,and see what sort of work they do.

Bachelors degree chemical engineers may work in scaling up drug manufacturing, so taking what the research lab develops, and manufacturing the pills or medicines in factories, that require detailed engineering knowledge.

You will get plenty of guidance at GATech about the various options in your major, so don’t worry too much! There will be upper classmen in chemical engineering to help you, as well as professors and grad students.

Also, you could consider BME, which is more related to design of medical related equipment and devices,
but if you really like chemistry, I believe chemical engineering is a better major for you, or biochemistry or chemistry major is also good to consider. GaTech has very strong programs in all of the above.